KUALA LUMPUR: Bina Darulaman Bhd (BDB) has been awarded a RM10.33 million contract to partially demolish and rebuild a six-storey hotel in Sungai Petani, Kedah.

In a statement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, BDB said its wholly owned subsidiary Kedah Sato Sdn Bhd (KSSB) has received the Letter of Award from Kedah Resort Sdn Bhd on Aug 15 for the project of partial demolishing and rebuilding Hotel SP Inn.

KUALA LUMPUR: Bina Darulaman Bhd (BDB) has been awarded a RM10.33 million contract to partially demolish and rebuild a six-storey hotel in Sungai Petani, Kedah.

In a statement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, BDB said its wholly owned subsidiary Kedah Sato Sdn Bhd (KSSB) has received the Letter of Award from Kedah Resort Sdn Bhd on Aug 15 for the project of partial demolishing and rebuilding Hotel SP Inn.

PETALING JAYA: Plenitude Bhd expects to launch three projects with a combined gross development value (GDV) of more than RM340mil by the first half next year, said acting chief executive officer Khoo Yek San.

A piece of land in Batu Ferringhi, which is targeted for residential development, has a GDV of some RM120mil while the Lot 88 project in Sungai Petani is worth RM136mil.

“The mainland will see spillover effects from Penang island.
Khoo Yek San

“Sungai Petani, being only 45 minutes away by highway, will also benefit given the competitive and affordable prices,” she told StarBiz in a telephone interview.

The company's Batai project in Damansara Heights would comprise bungalows valued at about RM88mil in total, Khoo said.

On the back of these, earnings for the years ending June 30, 2008 and 2009 were likely to be significantly better, she said.

For the year just ended June 30, Plenitude's pre-tax profit rose 10% to RM82.7mil from RM75.2mil a year earlier while revenue improved 7.7% to RM238.2mil from RM221.1mil. Earnings per share increased to 41.82 sen against 38.81 sen previously.

Part of the improvement was contributed by Taman Puchong Prima in Puchong, which saw higher sales, thanks to it being the only available freehold land in the vicinity, Khoo said.

Plenitude is also the developer of Taman Desa Tebrau and Tebrau City in Johor. Due to their proximity to the Iskandar Development Region, property value has increased substantially.

Khoo said the company intended to leverage on that by turning some of its future developments into high-end residential properties like bungalows instead of terrace houses as initially planned.

She said the opening of an Ikea outlet in Tebrau City by year's end would further boost interest.

“Singapore, Vietnam, Dubai and Abu Dhabi are seeing a boom in their property markets. This will have a spillover effect on Malaysia, with property prices in Johor and Kuala Lumpur to increase soon,” she said.

The cash-rich company also plans to have a more sustainable income, going forward.

Khoo said the developer planned to set up a hotel in Taman Desa Tebrau to cater to the growing number of tourists.

“We already own the Tanjung Bungah Beach Hotel in Penang, which contributes about 6% of group revenue,” she said.

Plenitude was also looking to expand into Vietnam and Indonesia, Khoo said.

EUPE Corp Bhd will launch property projects with a gross development value (GDV) of RM685 million over the next four years, which is a sharp increase from the RM100 million to RM170 million in current billings, HLG Securities Research said.

It said EUPE, a mass-market housing developer, owned 680 hectares of development land in south Kedah and had a 50% market share of the Sungai Petani property market, which generated a consistent level of annual sales.

“Management is guiding for 20% earnings per share (EPS) growth over the FY08-09, which translates to a FY2/09 price earnings (PE) of 7.2 times, comparable to its small-cap property peers,” it said in a recent report.

HLG Research derived a fair value of RM1.27 for EUPE based on a sum-of-parts valuation and assuming a discounted cash flow of RM770 million on a six-year planned GDV and current unbilled sales.

Other assumptions were the future value on its development landbank and a 12.5% discount rate, based on the property sector’s 12-month earnings yield.

“At our fair value, EUPE trades at a FY08 PE of 12 times and FY09 of 10 times respectively, a 10%-20% premium to other small-cap property developers, which we justify given its relatively bigger landbank and higher trading liquidity,” it said.

HLG Research expects property demand in Sungai Petani to benefit from the spillover of Penang’s property boom given its 35km proximity and cost appeal to entry-level home buyers, as well as the government’s Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) initiative.

It said the NCER initiatives were to speed up economic growth in Penang, Kedah, Perlis and northern Perak, and were targeted to draw RM177 billion of investments over 2007–2025 into agro-based industries, logistics, manufacturing and tourism.

HLG Research said the group also has good execution records and product marketability with its management constantly monitoring and designing innovative products, such as dual kitchen and high ceilings, to cater for market needs.

SUNGAI PETANI: The distinctive three-storey Village Mall in the heart of town is set to change the landscape of Sungai Petani.
To be ready in September, the shopping mall will accommodate two mini anchor tenants and chain retailers such as Secret Recipe, Delifrance, Pizza Hut, The Chicken Rice Shop, Casuri, Eumas and Bread History.
With a total net floor space of 100,000 sq ft, the mall is built near Tesco at Lagenda Heights.
The landmark destination is the brainchild of visionary developer Datuk Low Yau Khee, who is managing director of Nice Saga Development Sdn Bhd. Datuk Low Yau Khee
Known for his luxury homes at Lagenda Heights, Low said his ideas to change the lifestyle of consumers in Kedah and to uplift their shopping trends were often dismissed as idealistic.
“I’m not a person who only talks. I want to improve the lifestyle of folks here so there is a place where the whole family can converge to shop, eat, enjoy and relax.
“This sort of lifestyle is found only in KL and Penang but not in Kedah. When I first talked about Tesco, nobody believed me when I said we’re ready for such a trend.
“Now the crowd converging daily at Tesco shows that Kedahans are ready to spend if the right market is created for them,” he told StarBiz.
Low said Village Mall, with its villa-like architecture and arches, was fashioned after a mall in Spain. “The Village Mall conceptualises the lifestyle of a lively community,” he added.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said work on the project would begin in June next year and be completed in 2009.

He said the state would build a 1km-long walkway along Sungai Kedah from Masjid Zahir to Dataran Tanjung Chali.

“Another walkway along the Kedah river will be built from Dataran Tanjung Chali to Mini Marina near Ampang Jajar.

“The stretch along the Kedah river will be about 1km,” he said.

Mahdzir was speaking to reporters after going on a river cruise with state Tourism, Youth and Sports Committee chairman Datuk Othman Aziz, state Industry, Transport, Science and In-novative and Chinese Community Affairs Committeee chairman Datuk Chong Itt Chew and state Public Works, Energy and Nature Committee chairman Datuk Nawawi Ahmad.

They went on the cruise to check out the plans for Sungai Kedah and Sungai Anak Bukit.

Mahdzir said the state also planned to build a suspension bridge across Sungai Kedah from Dataran Tanjung Chali to Kampung Seberang Nyonya.

“This project is mainly to enhance and beautify the area and also to reduce water pollution in the river,” he said.

Mahdzir said the state planned to hold various traditional water sports on both rivers once the project was completed.

Has this been posted b4?
Souq Al-Bukhary - The newest mall and bazaar in Alor Star, in which Giant hypermarket, a local hypermarket establishment, is the anchor tenant. It is considered as the modern version of Pekan Rabu - quoted from wikitravel

KUALA LUMPUR: Bina Darulaman Bhd (BDB) has been awarded a RM10.33 million contract to partially demolish and rebuild a six-storey hotel in Sungai Petani, Kedah.

In a statement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, BDB said its wholly owned subsidiary Kedah Sato Sdn Bhd (KSSB) has received the Letter of Award from Kedah Resort Sdn Bhd on Aug 15 for the project of partial demolishing and rebuilding Hotel SP Inn.